Portable battery systems for emergency jump starts of motors are well known and seen in practically every service station.
Many variations on the theme of a portable battery for jump starting have been taught. For example, Chambers in U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,746 issued Sep. 21, 1982 teaches a portable jump starting battery which uses sliding plates to make contacts to the dead battery rather than cables.
Smith in U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,473 issued Jan. 8, 1991 teaches the placement of two motorcycle batteries in a polypropylene box. Smith observes that this system weighs only 18 pounds which is a significant improvement over the weight of conventional automobile battery of 58 pounds. This is still excessive weight for something to be permanently carried in an automobile for emergency use and, due to the self discharge of lead acid batteries, will have a very short shelf life. Thus, such a system is not suitable for an emergency or for charging in general. Braswel in U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,526 issued Jul. 9, 1991 teaches the use of a emergency battery with the electrolytic fluid stored separately from the plates. In emergency use the fluid would be emptied into the battery to allow the generation of current. The segregation of the electrolytic fluid from the battery plates allows the battery to have nearly infinite shelf life. However such a system still requires extremely high weight and has the difficulty of the dangerous fluid storage with a typical fluid being sulfuric acid. Dea et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,513 issued Dec. 31, 1991 teaches a cart with wheels to carry an emergency jump starting battery.
Arlinghaus in U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,197 issued Apr. 21, 1992 teaches the use of a small 2-volt battery to be placed in series with the primary battery. This is claimed to assist in car starting in that the higher voltage will spin the starter harder. Unfortunately this requires the mechanical work of removing at least one of the battery cables if this is to be used in a surprise emergency situation.
Kramer in U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,848 issued in Apr. 28, 1992 teaches the use of a split battery design. In this system the normal operation of the vehicle only uses half of the battery while the other half is always left for reserve. Unfortunately, this means that there is a significant compromise made in the capabilities due to the fact that only half of the battery is available normally.
Tomantschger in U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,799 issued Mar. 16, 1993 teaches a booster battery assembly in which the electrolyte is again stored separately from a dry battery, similarly to Braswel.
Wells in U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,368 issued May 25, 1993 teaches a battery jumper system with spooled retractable cables.
Rozon in U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,292 issued Dec. 31, 1996 teaches a jump starting system in which protective holsters are used to lodge the connecting cables.
Prelec et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,185 issued Aug. 11, 1998 teaches a jump start system within which an internal rechargeable battery which may be either recharged from an AC or DC source.
In spite of the obvious need for a simple, small, reliable emergency jump start system which could be carried in, for example, a glove compartment, none have been taught. None of the systems listed above have appropriate technology for such a device.